UNC-Chapel Hill

The National Weather Service has confirmed at least two tornadoes Wednesday in North Carolina. The first touched down at 4:20 p.m. just southwest of Monroe in Union County, tracking northeast for 7.7 miles. With average wind speeds of 100 mph, the tornado downed trees and tore the roof and sides off a barn. Few other structures were damaged.

Next week, UNC-Chapel Hill is launching a physician assistant program largely designed for military veterans. As the U.S. military’s drawdown plays out in a big way in North Carolina, the idea is to help troops with medical training turn their experience into jobs – and better health care.

UNC Chapel Hill students aired their frustrations at a town hall meeting Thursday night about race and inclusion. It comes on the heels of several campus protests across the country related to racial issues. As WUNC's Reema Khrais reports, many students demanded answers and action from university administrators.

Two of the three winners of this year’s Nobel Prize for Chemistry live and work in the Triangle. Aziz Sanjar is a professor of bio-chemistry and bio-physics at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine. Paul Modrich is a professor of bio-chemistry at Duke University. As WUNC’s Dave DeWitt reports, it was another example of collaboration between two universities that may be known best as fierce rivals.

The 32-member UNC Board of Governors unanimously voted this afternoon to close three university-based policy centers. The action included closure of UNC- Chapel Hill’s Center for Poverty, Work and Opportunity.

“I disagree with this action. I hoped we could find a different way of going forward,” said UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Carol Folt. “What the faculty and students I believe are saying is they’re very fearful this decision is having a chilling effect on their work and their perspectives on the area of poverty.”

The University of North Carolina System Board of Governors convenes its monthly meeting Thursday at UNC Charlotte. During the two-day meeting, the board will consider a proposal that would close three academic centers.

Remembrances are pouring in of the man who built North Carolina basketball: Dean Smith. Smith died Saturday night at the age of 83. From the early 1960s to the late 1990s, he coached the UNC-Chapel Hill men’s basketball team to 879 wins, 11 Final Fours, and two national titles. Charlotte resident Tommy Tomlinson wrote a moving account for ESPN in March of Smith’s legacy on and off the court, as well as his struggle with dementia.